Insecticide



in Mar. 22 1938 I s m n.

hiilo' in in Wivian d erbert h. i. ti

i 40.; decated to the i the 'iitory oi the iflnited pplicahon June 27, A930,

i No. nliii'i (oi. ion-ac) (fir or c act oi rch 0, i000,

This application is a mi under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act at April 30,1020, and the invention herein described, ii patented, may he manufactured and used by or ior the Government, for governmental purposes,

' invention consists without the payment to us of any royalty thereon. We hereby dedicate the invention herein described. tothe free use oi the public in the territory of the United States of America to take edect upon the granting oi a patent to us. I

This invention relates to improvements in wteriais ior destroying or checking the growth or -multiplication oi living organisms,- whether plant or animal, which are. economically injurious to man.

An object of the invention is to provide materiais suitable for use as insecticides.

Another object oi the invention is to provide a material for dusting or spraying delicate vegetation such as been plants, peach trees, and plants grown under glass, which will not cause injury to foliage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a material which is relatively non-tonic to man d domestic animals when taiten by mouth, and which can be used in place oi lead arsenate and other arsenicals ior insects without leaving harmful residues on iruits and vegetables.

We have found that substances belonging to a certain class of organic compounds have a specific toxic eflect upon harmful insects, and our The novel insecticides found by us -belo to the class of organic compounds which contain in their molecules, according to accepted iormulation, two homocyciic nuclei joined by an azo age, that is, by the N=N- group, and which tain, in addition. one or more amino gro p Typical representatives oi this oi .com--' pounds are: i

i-phenylaao-i-nnplithy:

with or without the presence of alkali or i v t:

in the application oi said sub-. stances to the destruction of insect pests as i these no which they be applied. 1

l-phenylazo-ansphthylamino:

N=N NHi i-phenylawm-phenylene-diamine:

But these examples are representative only, and are not intended to comprise all the compounds which fall under the definition of the paraph immediately above.

These compounds may be made by interaction oi aryl amines with aryl diazonium salts either in aqueous or non-aqueous solution, and either carbonates or bufler salts such as sodium acetate. Variations in the methods oi preparation can be readily m by one skilled in the art, but these methods do not adect the novel features claimed.

For specific examples of the toxicity 01' these compounds it may be stated that whend-phenylazo-Z-naphthylamine was dissolved in acetone and the resulting solution poured into water there ted a 04% mortality of culicine mosquito larvae within 16 hours when the concentration of the one compound was one part to 200,000 parts oi water. 7

When p-phenylazo-aniline was dissolved in acetone and the resulting solution poured into water there resulted a 00% mortality of culicine mosquito larvae within 16 hours when the concentration of the ace compound was one part to 50,000 rts oi water.

on p-phenyiaao-dimethyiline was dissolved in acetone and the resulting solution lid poured into water there resulted a 75% mortality oi culicine mosquito larvae within 16 hours when the concentration oi the azo compound as one rt to 10,000 oi water.

examples are not to be construed 'i'heabove either the method oi application of vel ticides or the minds oi 1 ts to These aryl aminoazo compounds may be applied in a manner similar to that in which insecticides in general are used, that is, as dusts, or in the form of solutions or suspensions in 5 various media, such as water, kerosene, etc., and

either with or without the use of spreaders, wetting agents, or sticking agents.

Having thus described our invention we claim: 1. An insecticide comprising a compound of the general formula:

where R1 ,and R: denote interchangeable aryl nuclei, R2 being a single benzene nucleus and R2 15 a naphthyl nucleus.

2. An insecticide comprising a compound of the general formula:

tive ingredient I-(I-naphthylazo)-2-naphthyl-' amine.

DONALD L. VIVIAN. HERBERT L. J. HALLER. 

